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Extremist fringe threatens all faiths

BENGHAZI and Melbourne would seem as far apart as two cities could be. Yet attacks on a US consulate in Libya, which killed the ambassador and three staff, and anti-terrorism raids on properties across Melbourne highlight disturbing links. The responses also show religious extremists to be a widely scorned minority. In Libya, the US and Australia, most Christians and Muslims are as one in denouncing the extremism and terrorism.

The raids on a dozen Melbourne properties appear to have been aimed at offences of incitement, not a terrorist plot as such. The targets were linked to an Islamic group, Al-Furqan, based at Springvale, which adheres to a fundamentalist interpretation of Sunni Islam. Al-Furqan's website and Facebook page include links to material promoting doctrines of radical Islamist resistance to Western domination. One link is to a documentary about Ansar al-Sharia, a youth group spawned by al-Qaeda in Yemen. Ansar al-Sharia fighters have been linked to the attack on the US consulate where the assailants joined unarmed demonstrators against a film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, or at least a 14-minute online posting of a supposed ''trailer''.

Promoters of the ''movie'', the origins of which are murky, offer evidence that fundamentalist extremism is not just a Muslim problem. They include Florida pastor Terry Jones, who gained notoriety for publicly burning the Koran. A producer, war veteran Steve Klein, is a virulently anti-Muslim activist who offers combat training to groups that embrace guns, anti-government politics and Christian fundamentalism. A similar world view is held by Norwegian Anders Breivik, whose terrorism was no less abominable because he claimed to be defending a Christian Europe.

Muslims and Christians have a common cause against violent extremism. US President Barack Obama condemned the attacks but stressed: ''We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.'' In Libya, the killings prompted street protests. One poster read: ''We detest insulting the Prophet but not with terrorism.'' In Melbourne, Muslims provided information to police, who then briefed the Islamic Council of Victoria during the raids. Describing Al-Furqan as ''a fringe group that's isolated from mainstream Islam'', Council secretary Sherene Hassan hoped Muslims would not face a backlash. We hope so too.

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Attacking an entire religious community only serves the extremists' cause, be it a violent jihad or crusade. Christians and Muslims must hold firm in the centre against the fringe.